有句顺口溜是这么说的：“没有知识，也要有常识；没有常识，也要懂得看电视。”这说明现代人的常识很大部分是从电视等媒体得到的，所以我们学习语言，也要能够读懂、听懂、看懂报纸、广播、电视等新闻媒体。这其实是语言学习中很重要的一个环节，但都被忽略了。
原因之一当然是它有一定的难度，连很多英文老师都觉得有困难，遑论一般人。但是如果你去应征工作，跟老板说我看不懂中文报纸，听不懂中文电视，老板会怎么说呢？他很可能说：“那你走吧！连报纸电视都看不懂，你还能干什么呢？”
这说明看懂、听懂新闻媒体是非常基本的一项能力，是中学生、甚至小六生就会的事情。那么反过来我们学了那么多年的英文，却看不懂英文媒体的话，那是不是意味着我们的程度其实只是在中学生以下呢？
咱们开始看新闻。新闻出处：http://www.ntdtv.com/xtr/big5/aReadArticle.jsp?id=26662
Rice commented that, “The lifting of an arms embargo at this time – continuing human rights concerns but also continuing concerns about the military balance -would not be the right signal. And perhaps more importantly it might actually serve to alter the military balance in a place where the United States in particular has very strong security interests, because after all it is American forces here in the Pacific that have played the role of security guarantor.”
莱丝评论说：“在中国人权和军事建构问题仍受关切之际，欧盟解禁会送出不正常的讯号，更重要的是这可能实际上会改变区域的军事平衡，而美国在这个地区有强大的安全利益，美军在亚太扮演安全保证者角色。”
Rice’s remarks intensified a campaign she has been pressing in Asia to stop the EU going ahead with its plan. Rice said it was the wrong time for the EU to end its ban, because of tensions between China and Taiwan.
莱丝的谈话加强逼促了停止欧盟进行它对中国解除武器禁运的计划。莱丝说，因为中国与台湾间的紧张，因此欧盟在此时结束禁令是不当的时间点。
Britain’s Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said on Sunday (March 20) that lifting the ban had become more difficult since China passed the anti-secession law last week.
英国外相杰克‧史佐周日说，自从中国上周通过反分裂法，解除禁令变得更困难了。〈待续〉@、
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